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The Night Circus
The Night Circus
Erin Morgenstern | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.1 (106 Ratings)
Book Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
"You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone's soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words."

I'm at odds of how to rate this book because while it was so magical and enchanting and had the most beautiful language and essentially everything I love in a book it somehow didn't give me that feeling that I wanted and that I get from my 5 star reads. I went into this wanting it to be a 5 star read and expecting it to be a 5 star read but for me it just fell a little short of that. I still adored it and want nothing more than to attend the cirque de reves and I like celia bowen would also die for marco alisdair and i so wish it were real. Actual Magic in a book.
  
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Clean Sweep (Innkeeper Chronicles, #1)
6
6.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
*Reading as part of the Innkeeper Chronicles Anthology, #1-3*

This is a pretty short start to the series, introducing us to Dina. She's a fairly new Innkeeper - a person with magic, who offers sanctuary to those from other planets as they pass through Earth - though her parents used to run one when she was little.
Something is killing dogs in her neighbourhood and she approaches the local werewolf, Sean Evans, to ask him if he will deal with it and he acts clueless so she decides to take matters into her own hands. Lets just say Dina gets more than she bargained for.

I enjoyed this. It was an interesting start with good introductions to the Innkeeper life and most of the characters included in this.

I was willing Dina and Sean on as they tried to take down the person behind the dogs deaths, and also for that spark of romance between them.

On to book 2
  
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
1981 | Action, Adventure

"I guess the next one, chronologically, would be Raiders of the Lost Ark, even though it’s hard to choose just one Spielberg film. First of all it’s George Lucas and Spielberg, which is kind of like Jesus and Moses collaborating on a movie [laughing]. But it was just, you know, it was so different, it just came out of nowhere. I mean Harrison Ford who had been Han Solo and all of a sudden he’s late ’30s and battling Nazis. It was just such a ride and it still holds up. Just movie magic, know what I mean? I saw it a couple years ago. We were doing a sound mix at Skywalker Sound, it was right before the new one came out, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and they showed a pristine 35mm print of it. It just brought back all those great memories and, again, no CG, you know. Just really good filmmaking."

Source
  
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Jake Lacy recommended Mary Poppins (1964) in Movies (curated)

 
Mary Poppins (1964)
Mary Poppins (1964)
1964 | Classics, Comedy, Family

"I, as a child, loved Mary Poppins. Something about these misunderstood kids who couldn’t catch a break, and this fantastic woman coming into their life and showing them this other world, and yet also being so coy: “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What world do you mean?” I just really liked escapism as a child, I guess. The time element of Britain in another era, and then this fantastical element of going into pictures and cartoons and flying and laughing. It’s like it was so exciting to me, even though it came out 30 years before I was born. Something like that. It was a real go-to as a kid. In the last two and a half decades, it still works. It doesn’t drag. It’s still like the magic is still there. Whereas maybe other films from that era may or may not have aged quite as gracefully as Mary Poppins has."

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Ed O'Brien recommended Jorge Ben by Jorge Ben in Music (curated)

 
Jorge Ben by Jorge Ben
Jorge Ben by Jorge Ben
2018 | Soul
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"This is a perfect record, It's heart on sleeve music, which is absolutely what I wanted to try to make on my album. Brazil is a very important place for me in terms of its music and culture; it's the first place I lived in where I felt I got pulled out of a bubble, and had to stand on my feet in a different culture to mine, and Jorge Ben is one of its greatest figures. He was so important in the bossa nova era, and a pivotal person in tropicalia – Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil looked up to him like a brother, as he was older. There's so much in that country's art that's about richness and magic, like the writing of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, as well. In many parts of England, you have to pretend to down nine pints to get into that frame of mind. That's probably why other cultures appeal to me."

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Belle de Jour (1968)
Belle de Jour (1968)
1968 | Drama
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"A thriller wrapped inside an enigma, this is my desert island disc, the one I’ve watched
 more than any other on this list. The psychology of the characters is revealed
 slowly and ambiguously. Each time I see the wheelchair (the husband’s fantasy) and hear the sound of the horse-and-carriage bells (the wife’s), and the way
 the two achieve harmony in the final scene, I’m reminded of Luis Buñuel’s ability to
 fuse reality and illusion in his characters and for the viewer. He performs this
 magic in plain view, like the best magicians. This is the film that illustrates that
 Catherine Deneuve is not only one of the world’s most beautiful women but a
 fine actress. Belle de jour is truly subversive in its satiric depiction of middle-
class society, the church, and our social mores. If a ratings board ever understood
 this film, it would receive an NC-17, though there is no sex and little violence."

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House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, #1)
House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, #1)
Sarah J. Maas | 2020 | Film & TV, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
7.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Let's be honest, I haven't come across anything by Sarah J. Maas that I wouldn't practically sell my soul to read again. This new book included. The first 10 chapters or so were a bit slow, slow enough that I worried about whether or not I'd enjoy this one - which was a devastating thought. But it quickly picked up speed and pretty much skyrocketed from there. Bryce is such a relatable character and this world, despite its magic and mythical creatures, is comfortable because it's so similar to reality. Her love and loyalty run so deep, she's definitely a friend I would want in my corner. She's a total bad ass, something I always look forward to when reading anything by Sarah. Now I've finished this book, the second will not be released until next year, so I'm left stewing with so many questions and theories! I'm so excited for the next book!